Garment board



April 25, 1.933- A. o. BUCKINGHAM 1,905,793

GARMENT BOARD Filed Aug. 12, 1932 ff/ w22 ,WWMW/ Patented Apr. 25, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALFRED O. BUCKINGHAM, OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CLUETT, PEABODY & CO., INC., OF TROY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK GARMENT BOARD Application led August 12, 1932. Serial No. 628,500.

This invention relates to an improvement in a garment board over which a` garment is folded and which acts to hold the garment in a desired condition and thus prevents impairment of its appearance when offered for sale or when returned to the owner after laundering.

The advantages gained by the use of these boards such as keeping certain portions of the garments smooth and unwrnkled are well recognized and need not be here pointed out. The boards themselves, however, have heretofore had no value after being removed from the garments and were usually thrown away so that the value of any advertising material thereon is quickly lost. This fact is appreciated by garment makers and launderers and hence the boards are commonly made of the cheapest possible material without any advertising material whatsoever thereon.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a garment board having' suitable printed matter thereon including advertising material, such as pictures, interesting information, games, contests, puzzles, toys andthe like which will cause the boards to be retained and not thrown away thus increasing the value of the advertising material thereon and forming a further inducement for the purchase of other garments from the same manufacturer or for the employment of the same launderer.

A further object of this invention is to provide a garment board having one or more portions defined by weakened lines which portions might be used after the board is removed from the garment for Various purposes. For example the portion might take the form of a postcard which would be used by the customer to reply to any question in the printed matter, to request additional information or to answer the puzzles, contests,

and the like on the boards, such portion being under some conditions employedto assist in holding portions of the garment in place.

Other objects will appear from a consideration of the following description of a shirt board embodying one form of this invention and the drawing which discloses such en'ibodiment and in which:

Fig. l illustrates in elevation 011e side of a shirt board embodying this invention and having incorporated therein a reply post card defined by weakened lines;

Fig. 2 illustrates in elevation the other side of the board shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustratingi a slightly different form of shirt board; an l Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view illustrating one way of using the board shown in Fig. 3, the portion defined by weakened lines being employed to position the cuffs of a shirt.

The shirt board 10 shown in Figs. l and 2 65 includes a portion 11, certain borders of which are defined by weakened lines 12 and 13. As suggested in the drawing one side of the board may bear an advert1sement of the shirt maker, or launderer while the other side may bear printed matter of any character desired such as'interesting or instructive information, a puzzle, a contest, a game or the like. The printed matter will ordinarily be concealed when the garment is folded over the board and be exposed when the board and garment are separated as by unfolding the latter. y

The portion 11 is here shown as a post card which can be used by the customer for responding to a question or suggestion in the advertising material or for answering the puzzle or contest or for any of many other reasons which might arise. Thus if the printed matter included in a limerick, the last line of which was omitted, anda prize were offered for the best line suggested, the line could be written on the post card and the card mailed. In order to avoid any misunderstanding the main body of the shirt board and the portion 11 might bear corresponding characters such as the insignia 14 so that the limerick to which the line on the post card should be added might be quickly identified. The characters might also be employed for various other reasons such as to' indicate the grade of shirt, or other locality in which it was purchased or laundered. Colors might be used as indicating media in place of or in addition to the characters. See for example the areas 15 and 16 shown as red on Fig. 2. The portions 17 defined by the dotted lines 18 and 19 may be used to support the collar of the shirt being separated from the main body of the board along the lines 18 and bent along the lines 19.

Figs. 3 and 4 disclose a shirt board 20 embodying this invention and including a portion 21 bounded in part by weakened lines 22 and 23. Such portion 21 may be as here shown a post card and when the board is used in a shirt 24 the portion 21 may be separated along the lines 22 and bent back along the line 23 to engage and position the cuffs 25 of the shirt as shown in Fig. 4. The board 20 is preferably provided with printed matter including advertising material in the same way and for the same reason as pointed out in connection with the board 10. In place of the separate characters employed on Fig. 2, a single character, to wit, an arrow 26, is used which extends from the main body of the board 20 onto the portion 21 and thus indicates the board from which the portion was removed. Obviously the arrow may extend in various directions onto the portion 21 to indicate different classes of boards or other characters may be employed for the same reason.

While certain embodiments of this invention applicable for use with shirts has been shown and described it will be understood that I am not limited thereto and that other embodiments for use with shirts or other garments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A garment board comprising a substantially rectangular sheet of material, the longer sides of the board having longitudinal outer edges extending substantially the full length of the board providing a form for supporting the bosom of a shirt which may be drawn taut and folded over said longitudinal outer edges for substantially the full length of said bosom, and a cuf support and retaining member comprising a detachable card forming a part of said sheet of material, said card being spaced within said longitudinal outer edges and disposed across the lower end of the board and having its end portions separated from the body of the board along lines extending inwardly from the lower edge of the board in a direction al'iproximately parallel to said longitudinal outer edges, the upper side of said card being defined by a weakened line along which said card is detachable, said card being folded upwardly along said weakened line to a position ad]acent said board and cooperating therewith to provide a support and retaining member for the cufi's of a shirt folded about the board, the portions of the board between said outer longitudinal edges and said inwardly extending lines providing lower substantially aligned, transversely extending edges about which the lower portion of a shirt may be folded upwardly.

2. A garment board comprisinga substantially rectangular sheet of material, the longer sides of the board having longitudinal outer edges extending substantially the full length of the board providing a form for supporting the bosom of a shirt which may be drawn taut and folded over said long1- tudinal outer edges for substantially the full length of said bosom. and a member comprising a detachable card forming a part of said sheet of material, said card being disposed within said longitudinal outer edges across the lower end ot' the board and having an end portion separated from the body of the board along a line extending inwardly from the lower edge of the board in a direction approximately parallel to said longitudinal outer edges, the upper side of said card being defined by a weakened line along which said card is detachable, said card being foldable upwardly along said weakened line to a position adjacent said board, the portions of the board between said outer longitudinal edges and said inwardly extending line providing lower substantially aligned, transversely extending edges about which the lower portion of the shirt may be folded upwardly.

Signed by me at New York, N. Y., this 8th day of August 1932.

ALFRED O. BUCKINGHAM. 

